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‘Vajpayee never considered scrapping Article 370’

MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Saturday rejected the claim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the abrogation of Article 370 was the dream of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and contended that the former PM never considered such a move. “I, along with the late Murasoli Maran, was part of the team that drafted the national agenda of the BJP-led government headed by Vajpayee. He never suggested the abrogation of Article 370. He was a real democrat who upheld secular principles,” Mr. Vaiko said while addressing the media. The MDMK leader said the RSS and the Sangh Parivar could celebrate the abrogation of Article 370 as they had achieved what they had wanted to achieve all these years.“The BJP government has sowed a problem in Kashmir. It has converted the State into a concentration camp of the Indian Army,” he alleged. Reacting to TNCC president K.S. Alagiri, who had accused him of targeting the Congress in Parliament, Mr. Vaiko said only 30% of his speech was dedicated to attacking the Congress, and the rest was directed towards the BJP. “Will Mr. Alagiri say that the 12 Congress members who failed to vote in the Lok Sabha got something in return for their act? What about the five members who abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha? Did they arrive at a bargain with the BJP?” he asked.